or


[01/25/16 - 07:01 AM]
"The NFL on CBS" New England-Denver Game Is Highest-Rated AFC Championship in 29 Years
CBS spins the numbers for Sunday, January 24.
[via press release from CBS]

"THE NFL ON CBS" NEW ENGLAND-DENVER GAME IS HIGHEST-RATED AFC CHAMPIONSHIP IN 29 YEARS

Patriots-Broncos is Highest-Rated Television Program Since Last Year's Super Bowl XLIX

CBS Sports' coverage of the New England-Denver 2016 AFC Championship on Sunday, Jan. 24 (3:00-6:45 PM, ET) dominated the day, earning an average overnight household rating/share of 31.8/53, making it the highest rated AFC Championship in 29 years (1/11/87; 31.9 HH rating; Denver-Cleveland-OT; NBC). The 31.8/53 is also the highest early-window game rating for both the AFC or NFC Championship since 1987.

Yesterday's AFC Championship on CBS topped the NFC Championship by +19% (26.8/40; Arizona-Carolina).

In addition, the Patriots-Broncos game is the highest-rated television program in the metered markets since Super Bowl XLIX (2/01/15; 49.7/72 HH rating; New England-Seattle; NBC).

The 31.8/53 is up +31% from last year's AFC Championship (24.2/39 for Indianapolis-New England) which aired in the late window, and up +9% from the early NFC Championship on FOX (29.1/52; Green Bay-Seattle), in 2015.

This year's AFC Championship game rating peaked with a 36.6/57 from 6:00-6:30 PM, ET.

PATRIOTS-BRONCOS IS SECOND MOST-WATCHED AFC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IN 39 YEARS WITH 53.3 MILLION VIEWERS

CBS Sports' New England-Denver Game Delivers Highest-Rated AFC Championship Game in 30 Years with 29.3/51

CBS Sports' Streaming Coverage of the AFC Championship Game also Set Viewership Records with Triple-Digit Growth

CBS Sports' coverage of the New England-Denver game on Sunday, Jan. 24 (3:06-6:40 PM, ET) is the second most-watched AFC Championship game on any network in 39 years with 53.3 million viewers (Persons 2+), behind only the New York Jets-Pittsburgh AFC Championship game on January 23, 2011 (54.9 million, late window (6:42-9:54; CBS).

New England-Denver also is the most watched early-window AFC or NFC Conference Championship game on any network in 39 years, as far back as CBS records go; 1978. In addition, the game was the most-watched and highest-rated television program since last year's Super Bowl coverage.

The New England-Denver game earned a fast-national Live + Same-Day average household rating/share of 29.3/51, which is the highest rating for the AFC Championship game on any network in 30 years (1/12/86; 32.4/56; New England-Miami; NBC).

Sunday's AFC Championship topped the NFC Championship (Arizona-Carolina) in viewers by 17% (53.3 mil vs. 45.7 mil), and ratings by 22% (29.3/51, vs 24.1/37).

New England-Denver peaked with an average of 62.9 million viewers from 6:00-6:30 PM, ET.

CBS Sports' streaming coverage of the game also set viewership records with triple-digit growth in viewers and minutes streamed compared to last year's AFC Championship game. Across laptops, desktops, connected TV devices, tablets, and mobile phones, more than 1.2 million unique viewers consumed more than 89 million total minutes of coverage, with viewers watching for more than 69 minutes each on average.





  [january 2016]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
     


· SHOWATCH
(series past and present)
· DEVWATCH
(series in development)
· MOVIEWATCH
(tv movies and mini-series)




most recent ratings | view all posts
[10/06/25 - 10:04 AM]
ESPN Sets Multiple MLB Wild Card Series Viewership Records
ESPN networks averaged 4,625,000 viewers across 11 games, making it the most-watched Wild Card Series ever under the current format.

[10/03/25 - 02:46 PM]
With Largest Viewership in 7 Years, "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in All Key Demos for Season Premiere
"Nightline" drew its largest overall audience in nearly 2 years and delivered its strongest Adult 25-54 performance in 20 months.
[10/03/25 - 02:45 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's No. 1 Newsmagazine in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49
"20/20" opened its new season with its strongest performance in Total Viewers (2.752 million) and Adults 25-54 (386,000) in over 3 months.
[10/03/25 - 02:17 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting '25 MLB Wild Card Series
Across eight games, the MLB Wild Card Series is averaging 4.4 million viewers, up 65% from last year.
[10/03/25 - 12:07 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Continues to Shatter Records - Growing Two Weeks in a Row Since Season Premiere for First Time Since 2005
Plus: "High Potential" hit a season high in Total Viewers (4.24 million), growing by double digits over the show's comparable third episode from last fall.
[10/02/25 - 04:09 PM]
ESPN Delivers the Most-Watched WNBA Semifinals Ever
Game 5 between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces averaged 1.8 million viewers, peaking at 2.1 million.
[10/02/25 - 02:51 PM]
ESPN's Record-Setting Day One of MLB Wild Card Series
Coverage of Red Sox versus Yankees averaged 6.5 million viewers, peaking at 9.9 million.
[10/02/25 - 11:00 AM]
"Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" Season Premieres Hit Their Largest 3-Day Streaming Viewerships Ever
The "Survivor" season 49 premiere grew to 6.83 million viewers with three days of multiplatform viewership; while "The Amazing Race" season 38 premiere grew to 4.01 million viewers.
[10/02/25 - 09:38 AM]
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" Scores on Friday Nights with Biggest Total Viewer Audience in Nearly Two Years
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" stood as the No. 1 program of the night, rising by double digits in Total Viewers over its previous season premiere.
[10/01/25 - 10:27 AM]
"Big Brother" Season Finale Is Most-Watched Episode in Over Three Years
The finale was up +33% from its year ago finale and up +33% from this season's average.
[09/30/25 - 03:44 PM]
ESPN and ABC Win College Football's Week 5; "College GameDay's" Most-Viewed Season Rolls On
ABC is off to its best start ever with 7.1 million average viewers per game, and the network has aired eight of the top 10 most-viewed games this season.
[09/30/25 - 02:08 PM]
Packers-Cowboys OT Thriller Averages 26.9 Million Viewers on NBC & Peacock, As NBC Sports Opens with Best Four-Week Audience Average in 20 Seasons of NBC "SNF"
The audience peaked at 29.9 million viewers in the second quarter (9-9:15 p.m. ET).
[09/30/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of September 22: "Wayward" Lures Viewers at No. 1, "KPop Demon Hunters" Sets Top 10 Record
New on Netflix this week is "House of Guinness," a historical drama series created by Steven Knight, which debuted at No. 3 on the English TV list with 5.2 million views.
[09/30/25 - 10:24 AM]
"High Potential" Season Premiere Vaults to Nearly 16 Million in First Week Across Platforms
This marks ABC's best season premiere for a drama among Total Viewers in five years.
[09/29/25 - 06:06 AM]
ESPN's 2025 MLB Game Viewership Up 21 Percent from Last Year
Coverage delivered 1.8 million viewers on average across 30 games this season.